82.5 Enabling Google Play App Signing
Up until recently, Google Play uploads were signed with a release app signing key from within Android Studio and then uploaded to the Google Play console. While this option is still available, the recommended way to upload files is to now use a process referred to as Google Play App Signing. For a newly created app, this involves opting in to Google Play App Signing and then generating an upload key that is used to sign the app bundle file within Android Studio. When the app bundle file generated by Android Studio is uploaded, the Google Play console removes the upload key and then signs the file with an app signing key that is stored securely within the Google Play servers. For existing apps, some additional steps are required to enable Google Play Signing and will be covered at the end of this chapter.
Within the Google Play console, select the newly added app entry from the dashboard and click on the App releases option located in the left...